Namesake
by Guardian of the Moon
Summary: Rikash died defending his Queen, her consort, and dare he say it? his friends: two mortals. Now, through a glimpse from the Realms of the Dead, he sees what has become of them. PG for absoutely no reason at all!


Namesake

Disclaimer: When I own Rikash, I shall inform you. As of now, I do not.

Rikash looked down through the mirror that showed him the Mortal Realms. It showed the only two mortals he had ever considered tolerable: Numair Salmalin and Veralidaine Sarrasri, the Wildmage. They were surrounded by their friends and family. Between them they held a small baby boy. It was the naming day this small mortal. The Stormwing's eyes widened when he heard the name of the child.

"Rikash."

At first the Stormwing was shocked. He hadn't heard that right, had he? Then, as realization began to sink in, he was touched. He hadn't realized that he had meant that much to the two mages. After all, he was a Stormwing. Then Rikash grinned. He had heard that Daine had spoken for the Stormwings' right to stay in the Mortal Realms and now it was obvious she hadn't hated Stormwings quite as much as she had pretended. Besides, it _was_ a good name.

He looked again at the infant, with affection this time. Stormwings liked children, Rikash especially, and it had always been a point of sorrow that he had never had any, but this one was his in a way. The thought of children sent him thinking back to a conversation he had had with Daine.

Rikash perched on the railing of one of the Yamani ships, idly flexing his claws as chips of wood and paint fell into the water. He stared out over the calm water, wishing the coming battle would come faster.

"Bored?" Daine asked as she came up beside him and leaned on the rail, careful to stay upwind of him.

"I just wish I could be _doing_ something, instead of redecorating the railings of Yamani ships." He glanced down at her. "I'm surprised you were able to detach yourself from the stork-man. You two have been inseparable since the moment you got on this ship. I was beginning to think someone had glued you together."

Daine glared at him. "I am perfectly able to spend time away from Numair."

Rikash continued as though he hadn't heard her. "Don't you humans usually get married _before_ you lay eggs? But you two never were good at keeping with the tradition, were you?"

"We are _not_ laying eggs thank you very much. Besides it's none of your business if we get married or have children."

Rikash shrugged. "Maybe. Although I have to say, I hope you do have children someday," he added softly.

Daine frowned. "You really love children, don't you?"

"It's very hard for a Stormwing to have children. Only about half of the eggs born survive and only about half of those mothers are unharmed by it. So many do not even try." He grinned. "So we just take neglected mortal children instead."

"Have you ever had a child?" Daine asked curiously.

Rikash was silent for a long time. "My mate and I tried to have a child many years ago. Both she and the egg died."

Daine put her arm around him and tried to ignore his aroma. "Oh, Rikash, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring bad memories up!"

He shook his head. "You didn't know and, besides, it was almost a hundred years ago. Time eases the pain." _Liar,_ he told himself. _You know time doesn't do a thing about pain. _Another part of him replied, S_o? She doesn't need to be anymore depressed than she already is._

Daine squeezed his shoulders in a one-armed hug and let go, moving away to let him be alone. Rikash stared back out over the ocean.

Rikash shook himself out of his reverie and looked back into the mirror. The naming day ceremony was over. He took a last look at the child named after him. He looked up at the Black God who was holding the mirror out so he could see into the Mortal Realms.

"Thank you," he said, dipping his head in the best bow a Stormwing could manage. The Black God nodded and withdrew the mirror. The god's hood shifted slightly as he looked over Rikash's shoulder. Rikash turned to look and saw his mate was waiting for him. The Stormwing turned back to the god of death, who nodded for him to leave. Rikash sensed that the god was smiling and managed to smile back. He turned and took off, landing next to his mate briefly. She nuzzled his hair in greeting before taking off, looking back over her shoulder at him and shaking her tail feathers. He grinned, showing steel teeth, and took off after her.

Author's note: Dedicated to baby Rikash. I love Rikash (the Stormwing). He's one of my favorite characters and I REALLY wish he hadn't died! SOB sniffles while tears are pouring down her face

Moonie: glomps Rikash, heedless of sharp/pointy/deadly/lethal feathers PRETTY!

Riksah: is having a hard time breathing Stupid…mortal…get…off…of me!

Moonie: grin


End file.
